Ever heard of Pepper? Referred to in marketing promos as an "emotional android" and resembling something akin to a hard white plastic version of E.T., it will make eye contact, ask questions, and even move its arms while it speaks. When released in Japan last June, the initial 1,000 unit lot of the $1,600 robot sold out in less than a minute. The hue and cry has reached the point where market watchers are projecting consumers will be awash in automated "friends" in the very near-term. Juniper Research's annual predictions assert "an array" of consumer robotics models should reach the market this coming year. Hyperventilating analysts notwithstanding, as a conversationalist, Pepper isn't much more than a conversation piece. At the industrial level, however, anticipation is growing over the potential for further automating the workplace. Jabil and Benchmark have experimented with various models (see our cover story this month), and no less than Foxconn CEO Terry Gou says he expects the ODM's assembly line to be at least 30% run by robots within five years.
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